Pipe-cleaning device.



R. HARRIMAN.

PIPE CLEANING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19. 1915.

Patented Mar. 20, 1917. Jig; 1

WITNESS, llVl/E/VTOR RUSSELL HARRIMAN, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

PIPE-CLEANING DEVICE.

Application filed March 19, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUssnLL IIARRIMAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Cleaning Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in pipe cleaners, and the object is to provide a cheap and simple device for cleaning out the bowls, stems and mouth-pieces of ordinary pocket smoking-pipes, and especially those having stems and mouth-pieces of curved or irregular outline or extending at more or less sharp angles to the pipe bowl. With this end in view the invention aims to provide means comprising a quill feather which has been so prepared as to adapt it to perform "easily and effectively this cleaning function in connection with pipes of the character described. It is also sought to obtain a device which will be inexpensive to produce by employing material for which little use of value has hereto-fore been found for other purposes.

lVith the above general object in view the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating a mode of carrying the same into practice, after which the particular features believed to be novel will be pointed out and claimed. In the drawing Figure 1 is a plan view of a quill feather embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail view on a larger scale showing the quill portion of the feather, and Fig. 3 is a section on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a modified form and Fig. 5 is a section on the line VV of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating the use of the device in cleaning out the mouth-piece of a pipe;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating the manner of introducing the quill end of the feather through the bowl of the pipe into the stem portion; and

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the manner of using the device for cleaning out the stem of the pipe bowl.

Referring to the drawing, the invention aims to use a grade of quill feather 2 of intermediate size, as illustrated in Fig. 1 showing the actual size of same, of which partic- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2t 1917.

Serial No. 15,460.

ular grade of feather no special use is made to any extent outside of grinding them up for the purpose of filling a cheap class of pillows. The tip of this feather is clipped away as at 4 for exposing a comparatively stiff portion of the quill'G so as to adapt the same to be readily inserted into the mouthpiece 8 of the pipe (see Fig. 6). In the stiff or quill end of the feather made a gash or notch 10, preferably facing at right angles to the plane of the vanes 12, and between this gash or notch and the end of the quill the latter is cut away along approximately the axial line of the quill (as shown at 14) and to practically a point to form a scoop or spoon portion of this part of the quill. This scoop portion may be on the same side of the quill as the notch 10 as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, or on the opposite side as shown in Fig. 4.

In the use of the device, the scoop or spoon portion let is employed to scoop out the bowl 16 of the pipe, the sides of this scoop portion providing strong scraping edges which act effectively to loosen up the deposits on the walls of the pipe and clean the same. For cleaning the stem 18 of the. pipe bowl the point of the quill is presented at the opening of the stem bore and then further pushing of the device causes it to bend at the notch 10 (see Fig. 7) and also causes the scraping edges of the scoop por tion it to be spread still farther apart; thereafter the manipulation of the device by partial rotation of the remaining portion of the feather imparts an effective scraping movement to the scoop portion. The device may then be withdrawn so as to insert the scoop portion bent in the opposite direction for cleaning the opposite side of the bore of the stem 18.

the cleaning action because of the effective l manner in which they wipe against the interior of the bore of the mouth-piece. After the feather has been used in the above-described manner it may be readily employed .in the way illustrated in Fig. 8 to swab outthe bore of the stem 18 by holding the larger end of the quill and pressing the smaller and more flexible portion of the feather against the mouth of said bore, thereby causing the same to bend and break and pass into the bore in doubled-up form as shown. Both the stem 10 and the bowl of the pipe may thus be thoroughly cleaned out by using the device in this doubled form, the cleaning of, the bowl being best accomplished by movement of the larger end of the feather in crank-like fashion around the mouth of the bowl.

it will thus be apparent that an effective and convenient device is provided for cleaning both the stem and mouth-piece as well as the bowl of the pipe. The device can of course be made in various sizes for use with various styles of pipes and is obviously adapted for cleaning pipes having either the ordinary straight stem or the inclined stem and curved mouth-piece such as herein shown. It is found that cleaners made of these quill feathers are of ust the right stilfness for accomplishing the desired purpose of cleaning and scraping without scratching or in any way injuring the interior portions of the pipe, thus having a marked advantage over some of the forms of cleaners now in use having a wire core which tends to mar the pipe and form pits that collect impurities and render it almost impossible to keep the pipe perfectly clean. Furthermore, by following the outline of steps as given alcove all the parts of the pipe can be cleaned without soiling the hands with any of the used portions of the feather barbs or vanes. Preferably the feathers used in the manufacture of these cleaners will all be properly sterilized in the course of their nninufactm e.

Claims l. A pipe cleaner comprising a quill feather having its quill end cut approximately half in two adjacent the vanes of the feather to render the quill flexible at said out portion, said quill end of the feather being cut away on one side to form a scoop portion between said first cut and the end of said quill portion.

2. A pipe cleaner comprising a quill feather having a notch in its quill end ad jacent the vanes of the feather to render the quill flexible at said notched portion, said quill end of the feather being cut away along approximately the axial line of the quill to form a scoop portion between said notch and the end of said quill portion.

RUSSELL HARRIMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents. Washington, D. G. 

